Have a Blog? Who Me?

Have you ever looked in the mirror and asked yourself  “how did I get here and who helped me?” As I have gotten older I realize that it really does take a village to raise a child and I was so fortunate to have a very large village. 

I grew up in Birmingham Alabama and moved to Mississippi to go to Mississippi University for Women and met my husband Glenn Miller.  Glenn has been such an inspiration to me but it was my mother who influence my love for shopping. 

I just recently put both of my parents in an assisted living home in Birmingham, Alabama and that was very enlightening.  I brought home all the keepsake items out of my parents house to make shadowboxes for my three brothers and twin sister.  What I found was information about my mother that has molded me into who I am and it prompted this Blog.  My mother worked for McCall’s Magazine.  I knew she had won a contest but I had no idea she was a conference speaker, and actually went out and checked on advertisers in stores for McCall’s. I chuckled when I saw she was bringing home $6.00 a week but I guess that was good back then.  It made me realize my love for shopping and helping people find cool stuff really came from my mother.

As you all know I love to shop so it was a natural for me to go into Fashion Merchandising in College.  I loved working for the Bridal Shop and Raymond’s while in College, Egger’s department store as a buyer and then onto McRae’s as an Area Sales Manager where I finished out my career in retail of 14 years.  I never realized that I would be working with an organization that promotes economic development through revitalization of downtowns.

Through the years I have met many people who have inspired me and one really sticks out and that was my teacher at MUW.  Ms. Goodman was a no non- sense kind of teacher.  She would pick on me because I was not serious about college and never showed any effort. One day she called me into her office and told me I would not be good in merchandising if I did not get off my behind and get to work.  She told me that I must give 110% because the field was saturated and I would be a sales associate for the rest of my life.  Wow! What an awakening.  I use that 110% rule all the time and have lived my life by it. She was a wonderful mentor, teacher and friend. 

There is another person who was instrumental in molding me into whom I am today and that was my neighbor Pate Kaye.  Pat died recently of cancer.  I still think about her often and miss her terribly.  She made me grow up and taught me so much about life.  We both shared our love for shopping and good food.  I am so fortunate to have known her and now I get the honor of watching her children raise their families and this has been one of my greatest joys.

Ben Muldrow has been someone who really believed in me and pushed me, pushed really hard for me to do this.  Ben is a Branding specialist for Arnett Muldrow and Associates.  Ben has been a real inspiration and a great mentor.  He believes in me and has encouraged me to follow my dreams.

I am not a great writer but I love to help people and talk about my adventures while I am in these great communities across our state.  Thank you for all the encouragement and I hope you enjoy the snippets of  my shopping and dining experiences.